What I expect to be my final Winter Classic concept could only be worn if it were red vs. blue, but I hope it never sees the light of day under any circumstances.

Why I don't think this will be worn:
I'll admit off the bat that I don't think the Red Wings would ever wear anything like this. After five previous designs taking into consideration the team's history and the current trends in "fauxback" jerseys across the league, I wanted to put a mock-up based only on trends. I think I've managed to complete a cliche bingo of sorts here.

For starters, we've got the current logo in a circle with the team's name around it. This is a design feature made famous by the Minnesota Wild but latched onto by the Pittsburgh Penguins (twice), Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Chicago Blackhawks also used it in the 2009 Winter Classic but (like the Penguins) at least there was historical precedent for that.

The "vintage white" I've made heavy use of is back, as is the "vintage red" I've used in previous concepts. The New York Rangers use it on their current alternate jerseys and used it in the 2012 Winter Classic. It also appears on the alternate jerseys of the Buffalo Sabres and the Blue Jackets.

We've got an opposite-colored nameplate here, another trend that appeared in some of my previous designs. The Philadelphia Flyers brought this feature back to prominence in 2008 and the Sabres latched onto it two years later.

As a bonus, the number on the back is unnecessarily outlined. Borrowing from previous versions of the Maple Leafs jerseys and the 2004 All-Star jerseys, the white numbers are outlined in red and then white again. It should be noted that this feature was dropped when the Wild adapted the All-Star jersey template for their current alternate jerseys and the Maple Leafs have since simplified their numbers as well.

Disclaimer:
Again, I don't expect this to be worn. It's just an idea of what could happen if the Wings decided to only follow the current trends. I have no advance knowledge of what the Red Wings or the Maple Leafs will wear on New Year's Day. I know my template isn't perfect. I'm admittedly too lazy to fix it. I know the Reebok vector would be replaced by their wordmark, for example.